Author Archives: lisathatcher

December 17

Philomena – Stephen Frears and Steve Coogan give us the chance to feel extremly comfortable. (Film Review)

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Stephen Frears is hit and miss when it comes to female characters but Judi Dench isn’t – she was the female M for chrissakes – so to come at us with the strangely written, safely stereotyped Philomena Lee at the end of a career that saw her totally own female characters like Lady Catherine deBurgh, […]

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December 16

Kill Your Darlings – John Krokidas and the vision with a beat(ing) heart. (film review)

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The elephant in the room for the beat generation heroes (I’m talking Ginsberg, Kerouac and Burroughs) was that they were privileged white boys indulging in the most conformist of empty gestures – youth rebellion. Its taking us a while to come to terms with this uncomfortable fact, though Pynchon declared his discomfort with the beats […]

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December 15

20 years ago today: Schindlers List – Spielberg gets emotionally serious. (Film Review)

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If there is a single word to describe Schindler’s List it would have to be ‘thorny” given the already always revolving conversations about Steven Spielberg and the complex subject of the ‘Holocaust’. Can I get personal?  How does a white Anglo female with a rejected christian upbringing who claims to have a love of avant […]

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December 15

The Dreamer Examines his Pillow – Unpathed Theatre Company and Vashti Pontaks take us on a journey within. (Theatre Review)

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It’s a brave director that takes on John Patrick Shanley, but to perform possibly his most complex internally referenced work brought to the surface of all things as a first time director is the kind of challenge that must have left director Vashti Pontaks so transformed she can’t recognise herself in the mirror. Pontaks is […]

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December 14

30 Years ago today: Silkwood – Mike Nichols and the power of the nuclear activist. (Film Review)

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Union films weren’t unheard of back in December 1983, but activist films with a female lead speaking out against nuclear fuel production workplace safety was, and in many ways Silkwood was ahead of its time given its central premise is centred around potential environmental crime; but back in the day of Karen Silkwood, it was […]

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December 14

White Reindeer – Zach Clark brings a Christmas tale with a twist. (Film Review)

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Munching through the Christmas paraphernalia, from ‘C’ movies through ‘C’ music to ‘C’ food, we arrive at a cute little indie called White Reindeer released in 2013. Perhaps a little somber to become a Christmas staple, Zach Clarke has written and directed a simple enough flick that combines enough of the right elements to have […]

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December 13

American Hustle – David O’Russell exceesds expectations. (Film Review)

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It’s difficult to pin down what is particularly brilliant about American Hustle, except to say that the layers will be revealed in greater depth in future years; it is one of the most perfectly cast films you will ever see; and it stems largely from a transformation of a certain genre it seeks to subvert […]

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December 10

Paradise: Faith – Ulrich Seidl watches patiently as humanity self destructs. (Film Review)

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Ulrich Seidl originally made the Paradise trilogy as one single film, which I imagine would have run for six hours and come with four hours of free therapy immediately after, so it’s a good thing he chose to break them up a bit. However, each film and its unflinching gaze on human weakness bleeds into […]

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December 07

War Witch – Kim Nguyen and the unflinching Western eye. (Film Review)

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That War Witch is set in a ‘unspecified African Nation’ speaks directly to the problems of homogenization in the film, the obvious planned placement in front of white liberal audiences and Kim Nguyen’s unspoken motivation to bring the horrors of Africa to the white and comfortable. Africa is a continent and the countries it houses […]

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December 06

Old Fitzroy Theatre 2014 Season announced by Sydney Independent Theatre Company

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The Old Fitzroy Theatre has been home to some of the most wonderful theatre experiences I’ve had in 2013. Standouts were Friday, the recent King Lear I really enjoyed and the very touching An Ordinary Person was a theatre evening that remained in my mind for days. In 2013 The Sydney Independent Theatre Company was appointed as […]

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